A bar in Keswick has survived a town council vote which could have seen the plug pulled on its popular live music nights.
Instead, the Crafty Baa on Bank Street has been given three months to address complaints from neighbours.
The motion to Keswick Town Council, which also involved calling in licensing bosses at Allerdale to examine the venue’s premises license, failed to win sufficient support from councillors.
Proposing the motion fell to Cllr David Burn, who was a co-signatory along with Cllr Allan Daniels, who seconded it.
Impartiality rules mean that Cllr Alexandra Boardman, who had got it on the council agenda, was required to withdraw from the debate and vote.
Cllr Burn told the public meeting at the Rawnsley Centre that both the town council and Allerdale had received complaints from local residents – including guest house owners – since “at least” July 2021.
Cllr Burn said: “We are told that things are now just as bad.
“I think it’s important to say at this stage that we are not in any way seeking to prevent the Crafty Baa from operating.
“But a number of us believe that the music element of the licence should be suspended until good sound-proofing and noise management measures are firmly in place.”
Cllr Burn said the bar did not “operate in a vacuum” and needed to show consideration to nearby residents and businesses.
He believed it had not shown “any urgency” to resolve complaints and said the motion from Cllr Boardman was an entirely “reasonable and proportionate” response.
But Cllr Duncan Miller told the meeting that while there had been noise issues last year during the pandemic, suspending live music was “rather severe”.
Cllr Miller said: “I have now visited The Crafty Baa and fully understand the layout of the property. It is quirky, it is different, it is on trend and very popular. The Crafty Baa looks to me to be on a yellow card. I’m not convinced they deserve a red card.”
Cllr Peter Terry said he too had visited the premises and suggested the town council consider a “middle way” instead.
Cllr Terry explained: “I think one of the things that has been against them over the last 18 months is the Covid regulations.
“The fact that they have had to have air going through the building means the doors have had to be open.”
Cllr Terry added: “I do not want to see Crafty Baa closed but equally, I do not want to see people coming to this town or residents of this town having a bad impression of Keswick because it’s noisy, or people coming here and thinking there is nothing to do.”
Cllr Adam Paxon told the meeting that there was a discrepancy in what the council was being told. The meeting had heard claims the music was still a problem, yet the bar had installed extra sound-proofing measures.
“Either there’s a conflict between those two pieces of information given to us or indeed the sound-proofing measures have been installed and they are somehow insufficient,” said Cllr Paxon.
He too suggested a “middle ground” compromise.
Cllr Markus Campbell-Savours called on councillors not to support the motion to suspend.
Previously, he had openly questioned precisely how many residents were affected by the music as he had not received any complaints.
Cllr Campbell-Savours tabled an alternative motion but stressed that those neighbours who did have concerns did need to have them addressed by the bar, or the town council would revisit the issue.
His motion acknowledged the town council has “concerns” about disturbances to residents and if improvements are not seen in three months, it would ask Allerdale to review the licence and suspend the live music.
The motion was unanimously agreed with none against.
Cllr Burn and Cllr Daniels also supported his “middle way” motion of giving the bar more time.
Cllr Burn explained: “The whole purpose of this proposal has been to try and concentrate minds and get something done quickly.
“We have heard from David (Petty) that this has been dragging on for eight months. I am perfectly happy to defer for three months to concentrate minds.” Cllr Daniels agreed.
